The Levels of Understanding in the Reading Questions in the English Textbook “English for Nusantara” for Grade 9 based on SOLO Taxonomy

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the levels of understanding represented in the reading questions of the English for Nusantara textbook for Grade 9 based on the SOLO Taxonomy. This study employed a descriptive qualitative design using content analysis. The data consisted of 149 reading questions in the textbook and were analyzed using the interactive model proposed by Miles, Huberman, and Saldan ̃ a (2014). The findings revealed that the reading questions were represented across four SOLO levels: Uni-Structural, Multi-Structural, Relational, and Extended-Abstract, while no questions were classified at the Pre-Structural Level. The Uni-Structural Level was the most dominant (53.69%), followed by the Multi-Structural Level (26.17%), the Relational Level (15.43%), and the Extended-Abstract Level (4.69%). These findings indicate that the textbook emphasizes students’ understanding of explicit information while also providing opportunities to develop deeper understanding through higher-level reading questions.